Three area campgounds affected by state cuts

Published 1:30 am Friday, April 24, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Three recreation sites on the North Olympic Peninsula are among 11 managed by the state Department of Natural Resources that will be closed or have reduced services this year due to a lack of funding.

The Bear Creek Campground in Forks and the Lyre River Campground in Port Angeles will close from Sept. 15 to April 15, 2027 while the Upper Clearwater Campground in Forks will close for the year on June 1.

“Legislative budget cuts — specifically to recreation maintenance — have forced these decisions,” state Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove stated in a news release.

This is the second straight year the operating budget for DNR’s recreation program has declined.

It fell by 20 percent in 2025, followed by an additional $580,000 decrease this year — a total of more than $8 million in the past two legislative sessions, according to the news release.

The drops come even after the state Legislature increased the price of the annual Discover Pass from $30 to $45 last October. The DNR’s recreation program receives 8 percent of the total revenue generated by Discover Pass sales, which make up less than 20 percent of the program’s total budget. It’s also funded by gas tax revenue, grants and some trust land management monies.

The program has about 60 field staff statewide — roughly one worker for every 21.6 miles of trail and 1 per 333,000 visitors to DNR-managed lands, indicating the scale of demand.

Washington Conservation Corps crews once supplemented that workforce with support equal to about 70 additional staff, but those positions were not funded during the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions.

A list of the 11 sites around the state can be found at https://tinyurl.com/fjbdehst.